Silva said she has a wish: "That all parents be friends with their children and for kids to talk more with their parents. And if they have any problems, that their best friends are their parents even if they might not know it."

Perhaps, as the "man of the house," Rezende thought women wouldn't understand him and what he was going through, his sister said.

Rezende had open court cases for driving violations, his family said. He had a car and insurance but he did not have a Massachusetts license.

He needed the car to get to work. But he couldn't get a license because he was here illegally, and did not have a green card, his mother said.

His next court date had been scheduled for March 17.

Silva said she thinks her son was afraid about going to court. He worried about possible deportation, his family said.

"He was scared," said Eliana Condon, his aunt. "He said, 'I don't want to go back to Brazil."'

"All the time he said, 'This is my country. I love this country,"' said his mother, who held hands with Condon, her sister.

Rezende moved here from Brazil about 11 years ago.

Rafael Faria, a leader in the local Brazilian community, said he believes the government should do more to help children who immigrate to this country.

For example, some children come in with just a temporary visa but end up staying with relatives much longer. Once they get older, they don't want to leave because they have built lives for themselves here and don't have any connection to their home country, Faria said.

"It's a very difficult situation," he said. "When you come in very young, it becomes your country, your home. But suicide is not the way to go."

After graduating from Marlborough High School in 2008, Rezende had a dream of joining the U.S. Army, but his lack of a green card stood in the way, said his mother.

Page 2 of 2 - Rezende worked several different jobs, including one he recently started in the food services department at the New England Sports Center.

Tuttle said Rezende had all the proper paperwork and was a pretty solid worker.

"He was a pretty happy-go-lucky young man," Tuttle said. "He was kind and pleasant to the people all around him. I was completely taken back by what happened."

Rezende's grandmother, Ana Mariano Silva, came to visit March 3, the last day his family saw him alive. Silva blessed her grandson and told him he was very handsome. He stayed for a few minutes and then left with a friend.

"And I saw him no more," his grandmother said.

The next morning, police came to the house.

Rezende's mother said she woke up at 3 a.m. that morning and noticed that he was not home. At 6 a.m., she noticed that his keys were on the table and thought there may be a problem.

"I stayed with my phone all the time to wait for him to call me but he didn't call me," Silva said.

She was working as a housecleaner when she got the call from police.

More than 1,000 people went to the wake.

"He had a lot of friends," his sister said.

His former teachers and co-workers also came.

"If Gustavo knew how many friends he had he wouldn't have done this," his aunt said.

Framingham radio station WSRO - 650 AM - raised about $9,000 for his services. Condon said she visited the radio station last week to thank them.

Shane Schofield, 15, knew Rezende and helped to organize a memorial for him with Katarina Teixeira, another Marlborough teenager.

About 40 people walked from City Hall to the place where he died.

Rezende's grandmother told the children there to talk to their parents more, Schofield said.

Schofield was surprised to hear that Rezende had killed himself.

"He was always happy. He always had a smile on his face," Schofield said. "(The memorial) was really touching. A lot of people are going to miss him."

Schofield and about 15 other people painted a rock near Assabet Valley Tech with his name, a Brazilian flag and a Batman image.

Rezende would have turned 20 March 31.

His sister said she is "doing OK." His mother said it's been hard for the family.

"Gustavo will continue in our memories," his mother said. "And we're going to miss him a lot."